Your author with his first KAP rig. Beyond the Golden Gate Bridge you
can see Alcatraz Island and the East Bay Hills to the left and San Francisco to the right,
April 1995 (31K jpg).

These web pages will be a journal of sorts, a
place to gather and record notes regarding a developing interest in aerial photography
from kites. Kite aerial photography appeals to that part of me, perhaps of all of us, that
would slip our earthly bonds and see the world from new heights. An aerial view offers a
fresh perspective of familiar landscapes and in doing so challenges our spatial
sensibilities, our grasp of relationships.

Aerial
photography aligns nicely with some of my previous interests. I've been a photographer
since my college days and know the basics of this area. I've been flying radio-controlled
sailplanes for about eight years now and have a decent foundation here as well. Though I
know little of kites what I have learned to date suggests they are a pleasant enough
hobby. Another piece of the puzzle is my developing interest in the Internet which turned
out to be my principal source of information in exploring the mechanics of kite aerial
photography. Researching this esoteric topic provided an interesting test of the network's
various resources. At this time I also find myself working on the learning curve of html
authorship, desktop publishing, and digital image manipulation (this document serves as a
testbed for these endeavors.) Finally, I'm delighted by both natural and built landscapes
so the notion of documenting the lay of the land seems the ideal Sunday afternoon pursuit.
Thus here I am.

I hope you find these pages useful. Drop me a line if you
have experiences or thoughts to share about kite aerial photography.

Table of Contents

The pages at this WWW site provide snapshots of my
learning curve in kite aerial photography. As I post this note (April 1998) I've been
taking kite aerial photographs for three years. It has been a delightful hobby. Here
is a quick guide to the structure of the Kite Aerial Photography WWW Site:

A Gallery of Kite Aerial
Photography Images - I've been following Craig Wilson's advice (Aerial Eye, Vol.
1, No. 1) that experience is best accrued by taking photographs. I've packaged images from
my expeditions in pages of four to eight images each. Most of the images are from the Bay
Area. The gallery table of contents is now in reverse chronological order because I think
the more recent efforts have turned out better. There is also a map key for the gallery pages. (detailed page roster)

Other Kite Aerial
Photographers - It has been my great fortune to meet a number of experienced kite
aerial photographers during the last year. The experience is often like taking an advanced
seminar. These pages summarize the best of these encounters and provide a glimpse of how
others approach the topic (work in progress). (detailed
page roster)

Image Conventions

My first aerial photograph,
March 1995 (43K jpg)

In the gallery sections I provide moderately-sized inline
GIF images that are linked to larger JPEG files. I've turned the colored link borders off
almost all of the inline images at this site. However most of the images in these pages,
and particularly those with the white "snapshot" borders, are linked to larger
JPEG versions of the same photograph. Just click on the inline image to load the larger
version (try the adjoining sample).

It is worth noting that I rarely crop the images posted on
the gallery pages (perhaps one in fifty is cropped.) So the framing of the images
generally reflects the camera's actual view.

Caveat and Acknowledgments

I hasten to add that these pages were begun by an eager
but relatively inexperienced hobbyist. While I have since accrued some experience, there
are many out there with yet more experience and a better grasp of every aspect of this
pursuit. I am particularly grateful to the many KAPers like Anne Rock, Brooks Leffler,
Wolfgang Bieck, Craig Wilson, Steve Eisenhauer, Henry Jebe, and others who have
contributed to the Aerial Eye, Internet archives, and
FAQs. I welcome reader's suggestions and corrections while noting that errors and
omissions are mine alone.

I have recently added
the Voice of the Viewer
-- a site feature added in 2001. This page allows visitors to nominate KAP
images found on the WWW as a favorite image. In doing so they provide a brief
critique of the image to explain why it appeals. A second page provides a
list of the nominated images. From there you can click to the images
themselves.

Comments to author: crisp@socrates.berkeley.edu . All content,
graphics and
images contained throughout are Copyright (C) 1995 - 2005 by Charles C. Benton
and are protected by United States and International copyright laws.
No text, graphic or image may be used whole or in part, individually,
or as part of a derivative work without express written permission.